Month: March 2016

The internet has exploded with amazingly negative reactions to the highly anticipated movie lately – even my friends who were really excited about the movie cancelled their plans to watch the blockbuster. However, as a die-hard superhero fan, I couldn’t miss it.

Relevant context of myself as a reviewer:
– I have watched just about every superhero movie and TV series (including Daredevil season 2, which I found incredible) in the last decade.
– I enjoy dialogues that smudges the black and white in one’s moral compass in shows.
– I also love action. Who doesn’t?

Warning: Spoilers, obviously. Read at your own risk.

The Good

Source: cinemablend

Wonder Woman was amazing in the show despite the lack of screen time. My brother pointed out that as she was knocked down by Doomsday, she grinned; the characterization is magical here. Sheenjoys a good fight. (That’s about the only good scene though, in my opinion.)

Source: screenrant

Some of the quaint scenes were beautiful. The post-production effects are certainly showing – there is an unexplainable draw that pulls you into the world created by cinematographer Larry Fong and the effects team.

Source: cinemablend

Personally, I enjoyed the combat segments. It’s still rather Man of Steel-esque so it might not appeal to everyone, but it was pretty epic.

The Bad

Source: techinsider

Why the hell are they fighting each other? Batman v Superman fails to convince the audience on the realness of the events unfolded. I could somewhat understand it from Superman’s point of view (he was being threatened blah blah blah), but Batman.. Guess he was just angry.

Source: slashfilm

Not a single person in court tried to defend Superman from his framed murder of innocents? Again, interesting logic here.

Source: screenrant

Lois Lane feels like a convenient excuse to bring Superman to the places that would advance the plot – from the opening scene, being threatened by Lex Luthor, to Superman retrieving the kryptonite spear. Really?

Source: Youtube

I feel that there is really no point in bringing the other members of the Justice League (besides Wonder Woman maybe) into the show. They only serve to set up the overarching universe and does nothing, if not actually impairs, the cohesiveness of the movie as a whole.

The Debatable

Source: cosmicbooknews

Many of my friends are complaining about the fact that Batman uses guns.
I don’t think we should view the movie’s Batman as sharing the exact same moral values as the character in the comics, and I vaguely remember the Batmobile in Nolan’s films armed with heavy weaponry. Correct me if I am wrong.

Source: gizmodo

Overall, I feel that Batman v Superman tried too hard to construct the cinematic universe without giving enough development time for the stars of the show. As a result, the plot felt shallow and incoherent. I guess there’s a reason why Marvel started with individual superhero shows before moving on to the teamed up movies. This way, the audience can actually understand and comprehend the actions of the superheroes based on their past experiences.

Should you watch it? Only if you really like superheroes and the cool factor of it.

P/S: Happened to catch this article on The Verge, and one point really stood out to me (in possibly explaining why BvS is bad): “We emphatize with our heroes’ emotions when they’re forced into fights that trouble them.” In this case, I don’t emphatize with Batman at all because.. I don’t even understand why he wants Superman dead in the first place.